Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn image from: https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&ei=VcR9XM_xKonYjwT13K7ABw&q=romance+dawn+manga&oq=romance+dawn+manga&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30l9.2796896.2799198..2799413…0.0..0.145.1768.13j5……0….1..gws-wiz…….0i131j0i67j0i20i263.yOf-X6cA-UY

Long URL is long… I do not own this one shot, nor have I read it before. I’m going to try to read more new things, so I thought this would be a good start to that adventure! I read this from a website, so this may or may not be a fan translation.

I am going to be doing shorthand as I read. These descriptions are really more of a reminder to myself about what all I have been able to read so far. Sorry if this bothers anyone! I will do a full description on the final review page of each series I read.

Every post past this point will be a spoiler, so please read ahead with caution!

Review time!

4 stars

Plot: 1/2 star. This manga does almost develop a plot. Luffy says he wants to become a peace main pirate, and the final page implies that he’s a ship captain who we can infer is a peace main pirate, but it is not expressly stated. I know that feels like a cop out, but this one shot feels like beginning of story (which it kinda’ is) instead of being the full story. It’s a teaser, and it’s one I like a lot, but that does not give it full marks. I stand by my half star.
However, there are sub-plots such as the village not wanting to give up their possessions and Shiruku wanting to fight. … Except she fought Luffy and not the pirates. And the village didn’t want to give up their possessions, but they still did. They also only fought Luffy, after saying that they weren’t going to fight. And the Crescent Moon Gyari wanted to raid the town and leave richer, and that certainly didn’t happen. So yeah, no; I’m sticking with 1/2 star plot. It had a lot of story, but that’s not the same as a full plot.

Art: 1 star. I think I may be a sucker for Oda’s art style. I know I should be impartial, but the style is so iconic and carries so many memories that I can’t not love it. To be fair though, the art is extremely expressive. The backgrounds are great. The use of shading and detail is wonderful, and I always know exactly what is going on. It’s a very unique style that carries its message well. I stand by my 1 star.

Story Progression: 1 star. Even though this is just one chapter, I am engaged the entire time. The story flows well even if it doesn’t complete the story’s plot. It has a lot of sub-plots that -though they aren’t accomplished- do manage to create an enjoyable story. I enjoyed every page.

Genre: 1/2 star. For some reason Google put the genres as “manga” and “adventure fiction”. Manga is not a genre; it’s a medium. Adventure fiction is dead-on, what with Luffy’s rubber powers, the Illusion Tree, and the terrifying sea monster. However, I think “comedy” needs to be added. There are a lot of comedic moments that may not be plot or story relevant, but they are big components to why I enjoyed reading this so much. Maybe Google just made a mistake, but with the mislabeling and the missing genre, I can only give half a star.

Enjoyment: 1 star. I greatly enjoyed this manga. It’s a short dose of (almost) One Piece. In fact, I think this would be a great introductory piece for someone who has never read One Piece. If you enjoy this, then you will probably enjoy that. As its own side story, I thought it was great. It has adventure and comedy in a well packaged short story. Not all one shots are this well put together.

I’m sorry I can’t give this a higher score, but I really did enjoy this manga! I can only unofficially recommend it. I will not be adding it to my “Recommended Manga!” page.

If you would like to read my full review, then please click here.

Every post past this point will be a spoiler, so please read ahead with caution!

why does Luffy’s ship (Speeding Meruhen Gou) have for different jolly roger flags?

The Crescent Moon Gyari is going to attack the village! Shiruku wants to fight the pirates, but no one else does; they’d rather hide or give up their possessions.

Luffy defeats Mikazuki no Gyari, captain of the Crescent Moon Gyari, as they make it into port. the town thinks he’s part of the crew, so they let him eat whatever he wants. when Shiruku attacks him, he explains he’s not part of their crew and that he’s not a pirate yet.

there’re two types of pirates in this world: peace main and morgania. the morgania pillage and loot while the peace mains fight them and go on adventures. Luffy wants to become a peace main like his hero, Shanks, who gave him his hat.

when Luffy was a child, Shanks made port in his town, leading Luffy to want to become a peace main pirate like Shanks. but Shanks wouldn’t let him join, so Luffy ate their fruit (it tasted bad), the Gomu Gomu Fruit, from the Illusion Tree which only bears fruit every 50 years or so. after eating the fruit, Luffy became unable to swim. disregarding that, Luffy tried to set sail anyway, got his boat destroyed by a sea monster, and Shanks had to save him. by saving Luffy, Shanks lost his arm, but later gave Luffy his hat which has become his treasure.

even Shiruku has heard of Shanks, known as Red Hair Shanks; he’s a legendary peace main pirate. we also learn that Shiruku is the abandoned child of a pirate. her pirating parent(s) looted the village and left her behind, but rather than being mad at her, the village took her in and raised her, so they’ve become her treasure.

when Luffy leaves the shop, he’s attacked by the village who think he’s part of the Crescent Moon Gyari. they tie him up before Shiruku can stop then, but then the real pirates appear. since Luffy is tied up, they take the village’s possessions and step on Luffy’s hat before throwing him into the ocean. Shiruku jumps in to save him while the pirates sail away. she manages to bring him back to shore, and Luffy vows to get them for taking her treasure and smashing his.

Luffy stretches his arms out and launches himself back onto the ship. A lot of yelling later, Luffy smashes the ship so that it sinks. while the captain vows to always remember this and never forget Luffy, Luffy asks why he should bother remembering the captain. he sails away on his own ship that was tethered to the larger one. he also returns all the village’s treasure along with whatever else was on the ship.

As Luffy leaves, Shiruku considers peace main pirates (I would guess to see if she wants to become one). the Crescent Moon Gyari flag is added to Luffy’s 4 other flags, letting the ship sail faster.

the final page shows a more grown up Luffy with a real ship and crew of his own, including Shiruku and even Mikazuki no Gryari.

the real final page seems to be a translated section that Oda wrote. this story has 3 variations. I probably won’t search for the other two right now, but that may be fun in the future. I love One Piece, but it’s not complete, so I can’t put it on this blog yet. I had heard about this one shot, though and have been curious to read it for a while. I’m glad I finally did! Review’s coming up next time!

To read my final review, click here.

Category: Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn, part 0